For the most part, I think about running all day long. I left teaching to work for a running company, so I am really not exaggerating here, folks. I really like running, and I like my job, but it sort of turns out that this is a bit of a blessing and a curse. Why? Because I sure can put quite a bit of pressure on myself. I have been running for a few years now, but I am just getting comfortable calling myself a runner. And I’m not so sure I’m “comfortable” with it at that! I have to keep reminding myself that I don’t have to fit into anyone else’s vision of what a runner is, and that I can and have to decide who I am and what defines me daily.
In the February issue of Runner’s World, Mark Parent wrote a great article for his Newbie Chronicles column.He wrote about the way we change over time, how we define ourselves, and what we are willing to do to reach goals we set for ourselves. He addressed the elephant on the calendar, so to speak, that many people are looking to redefine themselves during this time of year. He took the stance that things like New Year’s resolutions often don’t stick because we associate them closely with an event that happens once a year, which turns the goal into a one shot kind of effort. He writes, “January is a month filled with ghosts of failures past. January is the month of dreamers.” I think I might agree with him on a certain level because I cheated a bit on my New Year’s resolution; I started in December.
Parent remarks, “February is for doers.” I am excited for February. As I sit reflecting on the past two days’ runs that I had to drag myself out the door to do, only just beginning training for my first half marathon this year, I can’t help but look forward to February. I want to be a doer. I want to be a person of action. I want to be excited to act. I think a day will come when streaking just becomes second nature, and that’s the day that I am really looking forward to. For now, I will just keep moving closer to that day, one determined step after another. It is a choice that I will continue to make daily. That’s the thing I have really learned about defining yourself; it is constantly a work in progress.
“Finally, there is a day when you say to yourself, I’m in. This is me.”--Mark Parent
